In 1966 I had the privilege
to win a scholarship to study in the US and went to live with the Weissinger
family in Wilmington, Delaware.

Ted Weissinger, father and
head of the house, was a typical senior executive working at Du Pont – the largest
and most powerful chemical industry in the world at that time. I visited “my
dad’s” office several times and was quite obvious that he was highly respected
by his peers.

I ended my studies and all
of the sudden, being back to Costa Rica, I received the unwelcome news that Ted
(dad) had to retire from his work because he was diagnosed with a fatal cancer.
Ted was sent home to wait for his death after all the medical procedures known
and applied at that time, not doubting that they were the best science could offer,
failed.

The Weissinger’s house,
built in 1630, was located in a large ground in which the backyard was a forest
oak, cedar and other precious woods.

When Ted came home to die –
or at least that was what the doctors believed; “he made the decision to live,
and decided to do what he always wanted…he became a wood sculptor, using the
wood from his backyard.

For two decades, he carved
and sculpted, started a totally equipped shop and participated in exhibits
through out all USA and Europe, and won awards for his works. Some local
newspapers interviewed him because he lived for a long time before he died. I
got to see clippings describing how wonderful this artist was and what he achieved
before his death

I have often wondered,
how do you do to get an image/work of art, when starting from something totally
deformed?